The business behind the show

After the coffee. Before deciding whether to watch those episodes of "The Killing" on my DVR or just delete them.

The Skinny: In case you were wondering, my car is still in the shop, but I'm getting new hubcaps out of the delay. I drive a hard bargain. Today's stories include Major League Baseball rejecting the Dodgers' big TV deal with Fox, which is bad news for embattled team owner Frank McCourt. Keith Olbermann makes his return, and a lot of fans of the TV drama "The Killing" are very upset with the finale.

Foul ball. Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig has rejected a television deal between News Corp.'s Fox and Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, which will further complicate an already messy situation. McCourt and his ex-wife Jamie were counting on approval of the deal, which has been valued at anywhere between $1.7 billion and $3 billion, to settle their divorce and keep the team afloat. Selig, however, wants McCourt out of baseball. Details on MLB's squeeze play against McCourt and Fox from the Los Angeles Times.

Pledging to do better. As part of its coverage of the U.S. Open, NBC had a lovely segment with students reciting the Pledge of Allegiance as part of a video salute to the nation and its armed forces. Then NBC decided to cut the words "under God" (as well as "one nation" and "indivisible") from the video. All heck broke loose, and the network was blasted for the move. NBC, of course, then issued one of those wimpy we-apologize-to-anyone-who-was-offended statements rather than just a blanket apology. More on the controversy from Broadcasting & Cable.

Ides of August. George Clooney's political thriller, "The Ides of March," will open the 68th Venice Film Festival at the end of August. The movie, which stars Ryan Gosling and Philip Seymour Hoffman, will open in the U.S. in October. More from Variety.

Beatty's back. Warren Beatty has signed a deal with Paramount Pictures to direct his first movie since the political satire "Bulworth," according to Deadline Hollywood. No word on what the movie is actually about or who else besides Beatty will star in it, but I needed more movie news in the roundup, so here you go.

Keeping tabs. On Monday, Keith Olbermann returned, appearing on cable network Current TV with a new version of his old MSNBC show. While his fans were no doubt watching him rant, his bosses at Current TV are watching something else -- a fight between Comcast and Bloomberg, parent of business channel Bloomberg TV. Why? The fight is over whether Comcast is required to give Bloomberg better distribution on its cable systems as part of the Federal Communications Commission's order approving the cable giant's acquisition of NBCUniversal. The Los Angeles Times explains why.

Free vacation. AETN, parent of cable channels A&E, History and Lifetime, shelled out big bucks to take a bunch of reality producers to Florida to schmooze them in hopes of getting their best products. The move is part of the company's all-out war against Discovery Channel and TLC. AETN has been making it quite clear to producers that it wants to crush its rivals, who are doing quite well lately. More on the getaway from Vulture.